The Mistaken Angel of Death
by Kalyra-Anne
Summary: After 1000 years of hiding, Charlotte Petrova is finally reading face her ex-lover Niklaus and to meet her descendant doppelganger Elena Gilbert. But how is Charlotte still alive to be precise? Full summary inside - R & R Mild swearing warning Enjoy!
1. Prologue

**AN: This is my first attempt at a Vampire Diaries story. So please read and review and let me know what you think and any pointers would be fabulous! **

**The pairing is Klaus/Charlotte (Original Petrova Doppelganger) **

**It will also be in Charlotte's point of view.  
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**Full Summary: After 1000 years of hiding, Charlotte Petrova is finally reading face her ex-lover Niklaus and to meet her descendant doppelganger Elena. But how is she still alive? But most importantly what role does she play if the future with the rest of the gang from Mystic Falls? What is all this talk about the Petrova curse? And why does Rebekah like her so much? What happened in the past and to be precise, how did it all start off?  
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**Thanks :) **

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><p>It was kind of ironic really, let's be honest, it had been over one thousand years that I'd been outrunning all of them, the original family that was, for it to all come down to this; the one and only moment of importance, the discovery of truth of what really happened that night of the curse and sacrifice.<p>

And this was it.

I suppose outrunning wasn't really the correct term considering the fact that none of them knew I was alive.

I think what I found most surprising that no one had figured it out yet; one thousand fucking years.

It was probably more ironic that no one cared.

There was most definitely bitter rage safely stored in my soul or what was left of it anyway; I flicked off my humanity before I let it consume me.

I was going to save that for much later this evening.

The click of my heels echoed throughout the darkened high school's halls as I listened for my descendant Elena.

Suddenly, I paused, instead of Elena I heard something else or rather someone else.

_Niklaus._

How fortunate, I thought.

I was wearing a simple black dress that hit mid thigh and had a considerably conservative neckline with thick straps, paired with my signature black stiletto heels.

My hair was down and in curls that bounced swiftly behind me.

My make-up was simple silver shadow with black eyeliner and nude lip gloss.

I made my way to the gymnasium, passing by lockers, I could hear something being sort of dragged and it was human, the stench coming from it was invading my nostrils and without a doubt it was just whom I was looking for.

Perfect.

Two birds with one stone.

Music was playing in the background; I was close but still had about fifty metres till I could open the doors, my pace slowed as I heard Niklaus deliver an influenced speech.

"Attention Seniors! You have officially been busted, prank night is over. Head on home." He said almost sarcastically

I wanted to roll my eyes; Niklaus could be such an idiot at times.

Majority of the students in there had left.

"You two, I remember you." He spoke again, I was outside the door, I liked to blend in and keep my human pace, and it made time go slower.

It was now or never, I flipped the switch and turned my humanity back on.

I listened in again.

"If she drops her foot, Chad, I want you to beat her to death." He said carelessly as he compelled the teenager

That made me shiver in slight disgust, no human should have to be subject to his game.

He truly had become a monster, he must have turned off his humanity, and he must have taken the easy route.

No one would have to be hurt, not the innocent that just wasn't fair.

"Don't, Klaus, you don't have to hurt anybody." Said Elena

I couldn't have been more proud of her, she truly was my descendant.

Despite the fact that she was more or less a diluted version of me, she seemed more kind than Katherine, at least one of them got my need for revenge.

"Oh, come on, love. Of course I do." Klaus retorted

No.

That was absolutely not okay and I could feel my rage build up once more, at least mine was justified, right?

I sighed, in the end I knew that I had to be the more humane person and that I had to let go.

I closed my eyes for a second and then opened them.

I took a shuddering breath in, after all this time and I was freezing up.

Jesus Christ.

I don't think I've felt like more of an idiot.

This was completely and utterly ridiculous.

I don't think nervous could even relate to how I was feeling.

"I'm gonna make this very simple," said Klaus, his voice rose in volume with each word he spoke, "Every time that I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition, it's quite horrible really."

It was then that a wave of courage washed over me and I kicked the door open making them fly of the hinges and crash into a wall.

I'm not sure what I was expecting to see but I sure as hell wasn't expecting to see this.

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><p><strong>AN: Don't forget to tell me what you thought and what do you think will happen next? Hmmm... Only time will tell.<br>Review? x  
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	2. Chapter One

**AN: And here comes the update, thank you all for your feedback/alerts. Enjoy the next installment :)**

**Just to clarify - I put this under Klaus and Elena purely based on the fact that she will be playing one of the main roles in this story and there was no OC button and All Characters is quite general. So yeah, that's why it's under that.**

**Anyways...  
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_Previously;_

_It was then that a wave of courage washed over me and I kicked the door open making them fly of the hinges and crash into a wall._

_I'm not sure what I was expecting to see but I sure as hell wasn't expecting to see this._

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><p>Niklaus had a darkhaired boy in front of Elena, with his wrist firmly covering the boy's mouth and to my horror; I could clearly see that his intentions weren't innocent.<p>

I almost laughed at that thought though, when were his intentions ever innocent nowadays?

Elena stood next to a witch and a human boy and there was Rebekah standing with them.

Wait, what?

Rebekah?

"I need you to figure out a way to save my hybrid's, Bonnie, and for Tyler's sake you better hurry." Said Niklaus, just as he snapped the boy's neck

My attention snapped back to the scene in front of me, they hadn't paid attention to me yet.

The three teens looking shocked at their friend now being dead, Rebekah standing bored and when Niklaus turned around to finally face me, he called me a name that made my blood boil.

"Ah, Katerina, come to join the party have you, sweetheart?" his tone was sarcastic

"Katherine?" Elena gasped

At full vampire speed I ran, pinning Niklaus to a wall, my throat against his neck, I squeezed tightly.

He looked surprised at my strength and speed, not expecting it to be at that level.

Although, I was practically an original, give or take a few months.

That was until he looked me in the eye.

Instead of the dark chocolate brown like the rest of my doppelgangers, my eyes were sapphire blue.

"Hello, Niklaus." I spoke softly, "Miss me?" I raised an eyebrow, taunting him, the curve of my lips twitched slightly, forming into a smirk.

I felt Rebekah grip my shoulder, ready to fight me but I released my grip on him and let him fall to the ground.

He rose instantly from his position, "Charlotte?" his voice almost broke

I saw a flicker of hesistation in his gaze.

Rebekah's hand lingered on my shoulder, ready to attack at any moment.

I ignored his gaze and turned to Rebekah.

"Char?" Rebekah's facial expression dropped to one of total remorse, she lowered her hand.

I took and advantage of that moment and went over to Elena whom was mourning over her dead friend or soon to be dead friend.

I really had landed myself in quite a predicament and all I could do is watch, Rebekah latched onto me like a leech.

"If, Bonnie is successful, he'll live through his transition. Go on; fetch your grimoire's and enchantments and what not. I'll hold onto Elena, for safe keeping." Said Niklaus as he grabbed Elena by the arm, pulling her towards me, her mouth dropped as she looked at my eyes.

I was pretty sure that she had made the connection that I was not Katherine, though she said nothing.

Bonnie and the human ran out of the gym, leaving the four of us alone.

"So this is the latest doppelganger," said Rebekah loudly in Elena's ear making her jump out of her skin as the original vampire looked her up and down, the poor girl, "You always were so much more pretty, Char." Rebekah taunted, she was after all my best friend when we were human and vice versa.

I would have expected though that she would have forgotten, obviously I was mistaken.

It felt like a lifetime ago as so much had passed ever since and Rebekah never had been sentimental, generally speaking.

"Enough, Rebekah, take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?" Niklaus demanded

I could practically smell the fear radiating off of Elena, Rebekah smiled falsely and then dragged the dead wolf's body to only God knows where.

"Just ignore her, Elena; she's jealous because the man she's in love with is in love with you." I said to reassure her, oh yes, I knew the entire backstory that went on around this one pony town.

"How? What? Who are you?" Elena's questions all seem to come out at once

"Charlotte Petrova, a pleasure to meet you." I said but Niklaus rudely interrupted our meeting by proceeding with the introductions

"Elena, meet your ancestor and Charlotte, darling, meet your descendant, Elena."

Elena was shocked into silence.

"Now, care to enlighten me as to who you really are?" Klaus asked

His attitude and false accusations were beginning to piss me off.

"How dare you accuse me of being someone else?" I shouted at him, he had no right

"I saw you die with my own eyes." Klaus shouted back

"I came back." I stated the obvious trying to ignore the fact that he looked so Goddamn sexy in those jeans and the way they clung to his –

Charlotte Petrova, snap out of it, I screamed at myself.

"Prove it; tell me something only you would know." Klaus said, there was fire in his eyes

I lowered my voice so that Elena wouldn't hear, "Henrik."

The fire seemed to extinguish and in a move that I did not anticipate, his lips were against mine in a heated passion.

Tongues duelling for dominance of which we wanted neither to have.

For a moment, I forgot about the outside world, all I could feel was a spreading blaze of flames that were threatening to consume me.

Not that I would have minded actually, and then I was coarsely brought back to the world as I heard a set of doors open and Niklaus pulled away abruptly.

What was with all these multiple doors in this room?

Stefan Salvatore walked in, Niklaus did not look happy at all and for a brief second I thought that he may rip his head off but I laid a hand on his arm which I hoped would calm him down.

There still had to be hope that he wasn't a complete monster.

"Stefan?" I heard Elena speak up

I almost smiled, she sounded exactly like me, trying to find the humanity in our lover's once more.

Perhaps, we were more alike than I thought.

"Klaus." Stefan addressed, ignoring Elena's silent plea.

Niklaus looked down at my hand, then at my eyes and then at Stefan.

"Come to save your damsel, mate?" he asked in the most humane way I'd heard him speak this evening

"I came to ask for your forgiveness and pledge my loyalty." Said Stefan

False, I could tell, he was trying to protect Elena; it didn't take a fool to see that.

I let my hand fall to my side as he looked Stefan up and down, "Well... You broke that pledge once already." His softer tone was still there, almost regretful?

I could only hope; wishful thinking right?

"Elena, means nothing to me anymore. Whatever you ask of me, I shall do." Stefan said

Elena looked hurt.

If only she could have insight to my mind so I could tell her that he was lying.

It was always like a switch with Niklaus, his emotions and thoughts were impulsive.

"Fair enough, let's drink on it then." Said Klaus, loud and defiant and I knew that tone all too well, I didn't like it one bit, this wasn't going to end well

"Kill them." Klaus ordered Stefan as he pointed to Dana and Chad sitting huddled up in a corner hiding, the two that I guessed were the ones that he mildly tortured previously

Stefan remained in the same spot, fighting internally with himself.

I knew exactly what that was like.

"Don't make him." I whispered

"What are you waiting for? Kill them." Klaus the monster said, ignoring me completely

There was nothing I could do at the moment; I hadn't planned for it all to go down like this.

I don't know what my plan was to be honest, at first I wanted revenge but my plans were rapidly changing.

"No, Stefan, don't, he's not going to hurt me, he already said that -" Elena tried but Niklaus backhanded her across the face sending her flying into the ground and she let out a scream

Stefan's instinct unleashed and he lunged for Niklaus but Niklaus was stronger and within a second his hand was firmly around Stefan's neck and his eyes were flashing of anger.

His voice loud, "She means nothing to you? Your lies just keep piling up."

"And so do yours." I bit back at him, I didn't mean to get involved but I had no tolerance for his behaviour like this anymore, it was already wearing thin as it was.

How dare he strike at her?

"Let her go." Stefan gasped

Elena grasped her cheek and I bent down to see if she was okay.

She shrank away from me, I quickly mouthed to her, _I'm on your side._

Though I doubted that she would trust me, I was just locking tongues with the man that she hated most on this planet.

Judging by the reaction I got back from her, she cast her eyes downwards to the floor, I assumed rightfully so.

"I'll do whatever you want, you have my word." Stefan pleaded

Wrong move, Stefan, I thought.

It would have been so much easier if I could just somehow communicate with them without words being said, telepathically for example.

I knew Niklaus or at least, I thought I did but with each passing moment I was starting to find out just how oblivious I was to the entire situation and I realised that perhaps this was the most foolish plan I had ever come up with.

And that was saying something.

"Your word doesn't mean much, now I lived by your word all summer so that I didn't have to resort to this." Niklaus roared, before I knew it his pupils were dilated and he began his compulsion, "Stop fighting."

"Don't do this." Stefan begged

I didn't know what to do, I wanted to save him but I was so conflicted because as much as I wanted to deny it, I was still in love with Niklaus, after all these years, including the inhumane monster persona.

"I don't want to, all I wanted was your allegiance, now I'm gonna have to take it." supposed Klaus

"Don't." Stefan begged again

"Stay down." I whispered to Elena but it did come out as more of an order, regardless I would have to get involved now.

"You will do exactly as I say." Klaus began

"Nik, no!" I said loudly, trying to break his concentration

"When I say it, you will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey." Finished Klaus

It didn't work, I was too late.

"No." Gasped Elena, "Stefan!"

"Now kill them, ripper." Ordered Klaus

Stefan didn't need any more instructions, he lunged for the two humans as Elena and I had to sit back and watch him kill them.

"The Niklaus I knew wouldn't have done this." I shouted at him, how could he be behind it all and orchestrate it happily?

I couldn't comprehend it.

"The Niklaus you knew is dead, he died when you did." He fired back

"Yet here I am, alive in the flesh." I shot back, he was drawing further and further away from his humanity

He shrugged my comment off as he got close to Elena, "Always nice to see a vampire in his true element." He commented

I pinned him to the wall but he managed to flip me over and I was on a ground, his body covering mine.

"Don't you dare." I said murderously

"And here I thought we were having a nice reunion, love." That sarcastic tone was back, I slapped him across the face, _hard._

"Leave her alone, don't touch her. You've already terrorised her enough." I said, it was make or break

"I love it when you play rough, dear." He said as he muzzled her neck

The doors opened again and in walked a furious Rebekah.

"Where is it?" she snapped

Klaus and I stood up from our compromising position, we both didn't want the wrath of Rebekah at this point in time, and she did have quite the temper of whom I'd guess had come from her father.

"What are you talking about?" Klaus asked annoyed

"She has my necklace." Rebekah explained, her eyes not leaving Elena's form.

Uh oh, I thought.

Distinguishing my thoughts of how I was going to get Elena out of here safe and how I was going to give Niklaus a small idea of my revenge plans, after all, he could wait, I had all eternity for him, Elena on the otherhand...

"Look!" She shoved the phone in Niklaus' face with a photo of Elena wearing the necklace on the screen.

Rebekah had a furious glare and for once I was thankful that I was not on the receiving end, I felt a strange urge to protect Elena.

"Well, well, more lies." Klaus observed

"Where is it?" each word Rebekah spoke she got closer to Elena, Niklaus and I stepped forward, I was ready to pounce in case Rebekah did anything rash which was highly likely in her state.

"I don't have it anymore." Said Elena

"You're lying." Rebekah believed as she lunged

Her teeth pierced her skin and the smell of fresh living blood filled my senses.

Niklaus and I both ran to Elena's rescue at once, I pulled Elena away whilst Niklaus shoved Rebekah away.

"Knock it off." His voice thundered

"Make her tell me where it is, Nik." Rebekah screeched

Great, I had two angry originals on my hands.

I beat them both to it before they could ask, "Where is it?"

I hate to admit it but at least my tone was soft and inviting, unlike theirs.

"Katherine stole it." She answered simply

"She's not telling the truth!" Rebekah said again, her anger boiling, her fists were already clenched

"She's telling the truth, I believe her." I stated and that seemed to shut them all up

"Katerina, I should have killed her when I had the chance." Klaus murmured

"Well, that's unfortunate, if we had the necklace it would have made things so much easier for your witch but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?" Klaus began on his high horse all over again

Here we go...

Rebekah looked too smug for my liking as Klaus swiftly walked over to the basketball quarter clock hanging on the wall, starting it up with a buzzing sound; it came up with twenty minutes.

"Twenty minutes and if Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again, only this time on Elena, you know you want to." Klaus taunted Stefan

"Niklaus, please, don't do this to him." I pleaded with him

I was running out of idea's and I was beginning to get a little desperate.

"No-one leaves," Klaus commanded grabbing my arm as he made me walk alongside him and Rebekah, "If she tries to run, fracture her spine." He called out to Stefan as the three of us exited the gym.

I didn't bother struggling, there was nothing else I could do for now.

"You monster." I gasped

As soon as we left the gym, Rebekah attacked me with a tight hug.

"I missed you, Char." She whispered and I didn't realise that Klaus was not in my line of vision anymore.

He simply disappeared.

All I felt was a sharp pain in my back.

I gasped out, the pain was unbearable.

This wasn't just a a knife or a normal stake, it was a dagger dipped in the ash of the white oak tree and it hurt.

I was going to hunt them down and break their necks.

"Sorry Char, but I can't leave anything to chance and I'm going to kill that doppelganger bitch with or without Nik's permission." said Rebekah

"I'm going to kill you." I muttered as I dropped to the floor and that was all I could remember.

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><p><strong>AN: Don't forget to tell me what you thought and which side do you think Charlotte should be on? The good or the bad? Hmmm... Decisions, decisions.<br>**


	3. Chapter Two

**AN: Thanks for the feedback/alerts/fav's. Greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoy this next one, here comes an insight of the past and also as to what happened during the original curse binding. I have tried to be less graphic as this is rated T. I'm not sure whether or not I will write a relative piece that is more detailed that will be an M rating, for those of you that are mildly interested, let me know. **

**Just one last thing... This chapter is written in third person as Charlotte is technically 'dead' and it is in the past and it is also a lot shorter than the last chapter which will be made up for in the next one but this is a very necessary chapter.**

**Enjoy :)**

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><p><em><strong>Roughly 1000 years ago<strong>_

"Do you need help there?" Niklaus asked as he saw Charlotte struggling in her plain white dress with a corset lace up to hold it altogether and she had a beautiful French braid sitting on her left shoulder made up of her dark chocolate hair.

He took a moment to take in her appearance, she was so beautiful.

"I did not realise that I had company... But if you're already here then I suppose you can." She said flirtatiously with a small smile

"Of course, my lady." He replied as he helped her lace up for the evening

"Where are we going tonight, Niklaus?" she asked teasing him, she already knew what they were going to do, it was obvious, he'd told her to dress in a white gown for the evening.

"It's a surprise. Just get ready for the best night of your life." He explained to her thus being rewarded with one of her academy award winning smiles

He embraced her with a kiss; the moment couldn't have been more perfect.

"I pray for our future, Nik." She said quietly, she wanted all eternity with him but she still feared it would not be enough

"Pray? We are our own gods, Charlotte." He replied in slight surprise

How things had changed so quickly and the horrifying truth came to play, he did not know.

Perhaps he should have prayed more often, he thought bitterly.

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><p><em><strong>Roughly two hours later<strong>_

"Ah!" Charlotte screamed as she was flung across grassland, she sure as hell wasn't expecting that.

Her head ached like hell.

She was surrounded in engulfing flames, a perfect circle.

Despite the fact that her visions wasn't completely in focus she could still make out solid shapes and she recognised voices immediately.

Firstly, there was Niklaus' Mother and Father, Esther and Mikael, and then there was Rebekah, her best friend but one voice stood out more than the rest.

"No, Char!" it came out desperately

Charlotte closed her eyes as she felt them droop against her will.

This was not how it was supposed to be.

Tonight was the night of the full moon; they should have all been going into hiding into the caves, the moon was high in the sky, they could all die out here in the wilderness.

She'd forgotten in the madness to elope with her lover, after all, it made sense.

They already had a child together, one that was in hiding of course, far away from the madness held in this village.

She could barely hear Esther, speaking in a language that she barely understood, something about a stone and blood.

It was no secret that she was a witch but she didn't understand what was going on.

"Niklaus?" she breathed as she forced her eyes to open as to which she could see a stone

"I'm here."

He was so close, almost within arm's reach but the fire kept them separated and she wasn't stupid enough to burn herself to death.

"Nik!" she yelled

"Charlotte." Niklaus called

She tried to stand up but failed, she could hear the howling begin, out of fear she screamed.

"You disgrace, boy!" Mikael yelled

"No!" Niklaus roared

"I love you, Niklaus." Charlotte called out to him, "Never forget that."

"What are you doing, mother?" Rebekah asked

"A spell to cure your brother." She explained with no emotion, she was standing at a stone alter

"Please, let Charlotte go, she has caused no harm." Rebekah tried, she cared for Charlotte

"Silence!" Mikael shouted, his voice thundering across the wide open space, "The girl shall die to bind the spell."

"What?" Charlotte gasped, the thing was that Charlotte knew exactly what they were and she knew that there was no escaping her death.

"Please!" Rebekah tried again but then Mikael snapped her neck cleanly.

"Enough!" Klaus joined in with the swarms of voices that were ringing in Charlotte's head.

It was now that Niklaus prayed for one of the first times in his life.

_Please, if there is someone listening, please save her?_

"Rebekah!" called out Charlotte, pain and anguish filled her

Esther raised a cup above a pool of fire, filled with a red liquid with the consistency of tomato juice.

_Blood._

She smeared it on a pale white transparent stone, whilst murmuring once more.

A howl close by caught everyone's attention.

Mikael disappeared and within a minute he has returned with a limp dead body in his arms.

"No Charlotte! You are not going to die, not in my lifetime." Niklaus assured her

But Charlotte knew there was no escaping as she eyed the dead body which Mikael just ripped the heart out of.

More blood went everywhere causing Charlotte to feel queasier.

"Please my love, just remember me. I will always be here, in your heart." Charlotte said

"I will not let you go, Char." Niklaus vowed

The circle of fire she was caged in extinguished itself.

"I will gladly die before I let you lay a finger on her." Niklaus exclaimed to his father whom was getting closer

"I love you, Nik." Charlotte cried out, unshed tears that threatened to spill fell over the edge and made their way down her cheeks.

But before anyone knew it Mikael had sunk his fangs into her neck and that was it.

She was gone.

"No!" Niklaus cried

"It is good that you will die with a smile on your lips, boy. That's all a father wants to see on his son's face." Mikael retorted cruelly with a laugh as the remainder of Charlotte's blood trickled down his jaw line.

Within five minutes, it was all done, the curse, the bloodshed.

"Why? Why her? Of everyone –" His voice was pure anguish, the torment was suffocating, it was even worse now because all his senses and emotions were heightened further

"Nature demands sacrifice, my son. The moon, the blood and your heart." Esther explained plainly

It was clear that his mother had turned her back on him and his father already hated him.

He cradled her dead body in his arms; even in death she was still beautiful.

But the dress that she wore was smeared in blood, tainting her forever.

Niklaus let out a distressed cry before all he could see was blind rage.

Many lives were lost that night, the bodies kept piling up but it did not satisfy his hunger for revenge.

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><p><strong>AN: I actually got quite teary writing that scene. What are your thoughts? :)<strong>


	4. Chapter Three

**AN: Back to present time lovely people after a quick third person flashback. **

**And to make up for my late timing (Although it was my birthday a few days ago and my sister's birthday yesterday) I have added even more to this chapter than originally intended. **

**Enjoy **

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><p><em><strong>Third Person POV (FLASHBACK – Roughly over one thousand years ago)<strong>_

It was a hot summer day with a cool breeze coming through, of which many were thankful.

There was very little to do today.

Charlotte sat with Rebekah and her little brother Henrik on a log.

Charlotte was showing her powers to Henrik whom was obsessed with magical things and the beliefs of supernatural beings.

Charlotte took a leaf and smoothed her thumb over it, Rebekah watched her brother with a smile as Henrik's face broke out in a grin as the leaf transformed into a beautiful black and blue butterfly.

"How did you do that?" he asked amazed

"Magic." Charlotte whispered in response

"Can you teach me?" he asked hopeful

"Possibly one day." Charlotte replied

But the clang of swords was heard and the three turned their heads.

"Come on Henrik, our brother's are fighting again." Laughed Rebekah as they all, including Charlotte ran to watch Niklaus and Elijah battle.

"Oh look your damsel has arrived to watch my fast approaching victory." Stated Elijah whom was being cocky

"On the contrary Elijah, she's come to laugh at you." Niklaus replied as he sliced off his brother's belt

Earning laughs from Henrik, Charlotte and Rebekah.

Niklaus laughed as did Elijah and Charlotte went over to Niklaus as they sat on the ground together.

But that was all short lived as they all saw Mikael and Esther walk forward; they had obviously seen the exchange take place not just between Charlotte and Niklaus but the fight between Elijah and Niklaus.

"Relax, Mikael." Esther warned her husband, a pail of water in her hands, "Niklaus means well."

Niklaus stood up and helped Charlotte up, being the gentleman he was.

His father looked furious and it truly frightened him.

"That is precisely my problem." Mikael said to Esther before walking forward to the two boys and Charlotte

The smiles that were previously in place had disappeared from all the faces of the children, Charlotte clung onto Niklaus for dear life.

Niklaus looked at his mother but she walked to the sidelines and avoided his gaze whilst Charlotte watched Mikael whom had walked over to Elijah, his hand out for Elijah's sword which Elijah handed over straight away.

"So, why don't you teach me that trick young warrior." Said Mikael as Elijah stood back, afraid of his father's wrath

"Forgive me, my lord." Charlotte spoke up, "It was my wish that they provided some entertainment, it was not their fault but mine, please forgive me."

"Step aside, Miss Petrova, your father would not be pleased to hear you gallivanting around the village displaying affections towards someone that is not your betrothed." Said Mikael

It was no secret that Niklaus and Charlotte had already fallen in love but it was also no secret that Mikael and her own father were great allies.

The worst part of all was that her betrothed was Elijah, her lover's brother, whom was not the least bit interested in her other than a friend but all of them knew that Niklaus was Charlotte's true love and vice versa.

Elijah had already met a girl near the riverside that had piked his interest anyways.

"But he is the eldest son living son, the contract clearly states..." she said but the sentence died on her lips as her father approached

"Very well, Charlotte is to be married to Niklaus and my second daughter will be married to Elijah." Charlotte's father said

"It is done." Said Mikael, "But she will have no involvement with my son until I am finished with him."

Charlotte's father nodded and grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side lines to watch Mikael berate his son in public.

"Father, we were just having fun." Niklaus said but his father swung Elijah's sword and Niklaus lifted his to block and defend himself.

"We fight for our survival and you find time for fun. I want to have fun, teach me! Come on." Mikael yelled

All Charlotte could do was watch, she had already spoken out of turn which she knew she would be in trouble for later but her father was more reserved and would do it in private.

The clang of swords felt deafening and Charlotte wanted to rush by his side.

"Father, it was nothing." Niklaus tried

Mikael roared in anger as he attacked Niklaus with Elijah's sword, Charlotte jumped in fright.

He was much stronger than Niklaus, Charlotte and Rebekah both shuddered and turned their heads but at the same time they couldn't take their eyes off what was about to happen.

Niklaus lost his sword and was lying on the ground on his back.

Mikael raised the sword and for a brief moment Charlotte thought that he was going to kill him.

She gasped out loud, without meaning too.

Her arm was up ready to attack if need be but her Father pushed it down by her side.

"You are foolish and impulsive, my boy." Mikael said

No one dared move an inch.

Charlotte gripped her Father's arm, not knowing if she'd be able to stand there any longer.

Unshed tears were in her eyes, she couldn't take much more of this and Rebekah had the same reaction, she always felt bad for her brother.

"What? No more laughter!" Mikael shouted in Niklaus' face

"You've made your point Mikael." Said Esther firmly

Mikael let out another roar before he plunged the sword next to Niklaus' face.

Charlotte's heart leapt out of her chest, she thought that Mikael had killed him.

Her eyes went wide.

"Some days it's a miracle you're still alive." She heard Mikael mutter, "Boy." He spat

Charlotte's heart was racing but she was so thankful that he was at least alive.

They all stood awaiting the verdict.

Mikael stalked off in a heap as Niklaus laid on the ground, his breathing heavy before he got up and ran away in the other direction not casting a single glance in Charlotte's direction.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Charlotte's POV!<strong>_

I felt groggy, like I had no strength in my body left which was kind of rubbish considering the fact that I was meant to be immortal and almost invincible.

But then again with every strength given it resulted in an equal weakness.

It was hard to concentrate my thoughts as memories of my past kept playing over in my head, it was almost painful really.

I could remember everything so clearly, my recollection of events never ceased to amaze me.

To be honest, there were some that I wish I couldn't remember but that of course wouldn't ever happen, not without extra help from witches but they never were my favourite to deal with, at least not after I turned.

That was when things changed.

My eyes flashed open as I surveyed the area I was in.

The place I was in was plain and abandoned; I stopped paying attention after that.

Despite the fact that it smelt like mould.

The first thing I checked was that I had no dagger in me or near me but my dress was now ruined and the dagger was nowhere in my line of sight.

Damn it!

I could have used it to my own advantage.

It was night time but I didn't know how much time had passed, it didn't feel like long because my hunger to feed wasn't completely unbearable yet.

I groaned softly, I hated those Godforsaken daggers.

I tried to sift through and single out my thoughts, ignoring particular ones of Niklaus and Rebekah.

I had a job to do and I hoped that I wasn't too late.

I tilted my head to the right and it was only then that I realised that I wasn't lying down on cold cement flooring but it was actually quite comfortable but it was like a boxed enclosure.

I was lying in a coffin.

I jumped out of it as soon as I could which took a millisecond.

I could deal with being near one or seeing one or touching one for that matter but being inside of one was kind of pushing the comfort zone boundaries.

Not that I was claustrophobic or anything, they just freaked me out and reminded me way too much of the past.

I took in my surroundings with more detail it was the only thing in the room actually.

How... odd.

But it wasn't actually a room either; it was the back of a truck and it was also quite dark to the human eye and grungy.

You couldn't have chosen a better resting place, Rebekah? I thought cynically.

Oh, the dignity.

I opened the back doors with ease and I got the hell out of there.

The good thing was that I was still in Mystic Falls; I was just praying that I wasn't too late, especially because I would have to make a quick pit stop first to change clothes and feed.

I would need every bit of strength I could get.

"You're gonna need this."

I knew that voice, I turned around and there was Stefan, Elena's lover boy.

He threw me a black long sleeved cardigan and a blood bag.

Which I caught both swiftly; I shoved my arms through the cardigan and down the blood in large unladylike gulps.

"What day is it? Where's Elena? What do you want in return for this?" I asked him all at once

Time was running out.

"Rebekah sent me to make sure you were awake. You've only been out for a couple of hours. Klaus doesn't know, he thinks you ran off."

I scoffed, now that was highly unlikely.

Clearly, Stefan did not know Niklaus at all, not like I did.

Because he sure as hell would not have bought that garbage.

"And Elena?"

I needed to know and I needed to know now

"She's at the hospital," he answered, "Head East." He added

Without another word, I ran there as fast as I could.

Hiding in the trees near the car park, I could hear them, Niklaus and Rebekah, they were just simply talking.

And as much as she wanted to just burst in and snap Rebekah's dainty little neck, I needed information, not to mention that I was calculative.

Generally... Not so much since I arrived in Mystic Falls.

"So the doppelganger isn't the problem and her blood is the solution?" Rebekah asked

"It would seem so." Niklaus murmured

"How did you know?" she questioned him

What the hell had I missed?

"Well you know how much the original witch hated me. Who's to think I would do anything other than the opposite as to what she says." Niklaus stated bored

He's not the only one.

"A thousand years in the grave and she's still screwing with you."

Original Witch is too kind; it truly should be Original Bitch.

"Ah, well it makes sense if you think about it, from her perspective, it was her fail safe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse. The doppelganger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid but if she was dead –" he was cut off by his sister

"Then you couldn't use her blood to sire yourself a new species." She finished

At least they were making promising progress but I knew that if that was the case then that also gave me less time which for me would become a problem.

"Leaving me alone for all time." Niklaus muttered as an afterthought

"Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids, you just don't want to be alone?" Rebekah seemed genuinely surprised

There was a pause and I thought back to what Stefan had said earlier.

I peered closer so I could see Niklaus' facial expression.

Dashing as always, that was without a doubt but what really sent my knee's weak was that he visibly bit his tongue and what looked to be fighting off threatening tears that looked like they were about to fall.

But as quickly as it came it disappeared.

"What I want is to find and take my girl and to take my hybrid and get the hell out of this one pony town." He said defiantly, "You know ah, why don't you uh, why don't you go and get the truck. I'll get Elena and we'll start the search for her."

My heart raced.

I had no doubts that the 'her' was me.

During this entire conversation, I realised that there was still good and still humanity in his heart and even though he let it out in small flashes, which would be my chance to intervene.

I couldn't stand the thing, the monster of whom he had now become and I felt like it was my fault.

Yet, ironically, I was the one who gave up everything for him and surprising so, I was ready to do it all over again.

But he couldn't be my first priority anymore.

It always has and always will be Family first.

First was Siobhan but she was doing fine so next on my list was Elena.

_Elena! _

Thank God, Elena was alive at least.

But alive never meant safe and safe nowadays was a rare thing to come by.

Rebekah disappeared and I decided that now was my cue but someone had already beaten me to it.

A man, vampire, dark hair.

I could only see the back of him.

"Well, look who decided to finally show up to the party." Niklaus taunted

I sighed softly, back was the monster and king of sarcasm.

It truly caused my heart to ache to just see him like this, to see what he is now is so different to what he was in the past but I knew that I couldn't change it, not right now that was, perhaps in given time I could make the change happen for him.

"Where is she?" the man asked, it was then that I instantly recognised him as Damon Salvatore, Stefan's brother.

"Elena? Ah, she's making a donation to a greater cause." Niklaus said generally

Damon tried to shove past him but Niklaus wouldn't let him pass.

"I can't let you interfere mate." Niklaus said

I could already see it; I would be the one intervening.

"You'll have to kill me." Damon fired back

"Oh, I would love to kill you but you see I made a pledge to your brother and unlike him, I keep my word. Although, you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn't care that much anymore. After all, how many freebies did I really sign up for?" Niklaus said his mini speech before he pinned Damon on the hood of a car, his hand wrapped around Damon's throat, clamped tightly so that he couldn't get a word out even if he tried.

I raced to the scene just as Niklaus pulled his other fist up, ready to beat Damon to death.

He got in one punch before I yanked Niklaus back, which took both vampire's by surprise.

"Elena?" Damon said out of shock but as soon as we came eye to eye he gave me a strange look, one that I was beginning to get accustomed to here.

"Charlotte Petrova." I said quickly

Niklaus eyed me off, looking pissed about me pulling him back.

I grabbed Damon and sent him flying head first before I grabbed Niklaus and took him to the thicket of the trees, at first it felt like I was dragging him which sent me into a few of the trees and I ripped the cardigan I had on, the further away we went, the more frustrated I became with the fabric.

I took Niklaus to the old Lockwood Property, roughly as to where our old village used to be.

We were in the middle of the forest.

He looked more visibly calm; I had no idea what on Earth he was thinking.

"You ran." He said dryly

We were standing further away from each other now, perhaps five or so metres wedged between us.

Perhaps my thoughts and knowledge were wrong; maybe he did believe Stefan and Rebekah.

Rebekah I could understand, she always was a good performer but Stefan?

I wasn't particularly sure yet.

It was here that I threw the offending and annoying fabric away.

Choosing not to focus on the fact that he was now standing closer, a lot closer than I ever intended, now we were standing practically thirty centimetres away from each other but our heads seemed to go closer together, like a magnet effect.

Fatal attraction, one could say.

Dear Lord, forgive me now because I am about to sin... A lot.

"If by running you mean daggered then yes, I ran." I replied, looking deep into his mesmerising eyes, the blue and green mixture that I could gaze into endlessly.

I then decided at that moment that I needed to stop reading romance novels.

Because honestly, it was doing me no favours other than invading my thoughts.

Niklaus circled his arms around my waist and tightened his grip, forcing me to press the front of my body into his.

Not knowing where to put my arms, I draped them on his neck, my finger impatiently tapping along his shoulders.

I could feel his hands touching my back to find the remains of the wound were no longer there other then my ruined dress and a very tingly sensation running through my body.

But that could have been for multiple reasons.

Not once did either of us, take our eyes off of each other.

"Who?" he asked softly

I wasn't sure why or even what possessed me to act but I did.

I pressed my lips into his, not being able to take it anymore.

My hands fisted in his hair, his scent had been driving me crazy.

It was hard to explain and the reason ceased to exist when he slipped his tongue in my mouth.

And blood was supposed to be euphoric, but even that couldn't compare to this.

This was something else entirely and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying every single second of it.

I had to pull back to breathe; it was coming out in small pants.

Which was not doing me any favours either, firstly, it was unattractive and very unladylike and secondly it just increased my want for him.

In the pit of my something, something was twisting.

I hated what he had become but I knew I could save him, no matter the cost.

My hands slid to his neck as we rested our foreheads against each others.

At least his reaction was similar to mine but his just sounded sexy and mine sounded animalistic.

"Your darling sister." I answered

"Petty little thing." He recalled

"Hardly, she just wanted to have Elena's head on a platter and she didn't want to leave anything to chance." I retorted back

"Something that you do not want to happen?"

"No and neither do you."

My answer was short and simple; he didn't need to know the rest of the story that went with it.

I was without a doubt in love with him.

We were then interrupted again but this time by Rebekah with Stefan lingering close by, this was beginning to become a common occurrence, if it happened anymore times, heads were going to start rolling.

"Keep your clothes on why don't you." She joked

In a flash, I stepped away from Niklaus and I snapped her neck.

That was for the dagger, I thought.

Niklaus picked her up with ease and gave her body to Stefan to carry.

Not looking the least bit angry, if anything we shared a look of mutual agreement which was definitely a first since I had seen him tonight.

"Promise me something?" I asked him quietly

He nodded for me to continue.

"Keep Elena safe at all times; send Stefan to keep her protected." I requested as I was going to need all the time that I could get.

"Of course, my lady." He responded before compelling Stefan to protect and keep an eye on Elena.

It wasn't a big stretch; he needed Elena as well, for his own purposes, to create his hybrids, an all new species but it was good that he was willing to comply with my wishes that were in addition closely related to his end goal.

It was my starting point and I would only be able to take this all, one step at a time.

Or at least that was what I kept telling myself.

God, I was hopeless.

* * *

><p>So keep my own agenda or at least attempting too had sort of back fired on me.<p>

I wanted to prove to Niklaus that I did not need him which I was now beginning to realise was my first mistake as it was a lie.

I needed him.

But at the same time I had a commitment to my family and my descendants, Katherine being temporarily excluded for that category, Siobhan was my first priority but as more time went on, the less I worried about her which I suppose was good in a way but she had been alive long enough to know the dangers not to mention that I had taught her everything I knew which now seemed useless.

And then there was Elena.

She was my second priority and it was my fault that she was in half the danger she was in.

I felt remorse for her, the girl couldn't catch a break and now the man that she loved or should I say vampire, now has switched off his humanity and doesn't care and Niklaus was sending that very vampire back to protect her.

I knew that she would probably hate me a lot by now but perhaps in time she would realise that I did it to protect her.

The very little fact that she had survived had triggered a little something that I liked to call the Petrova curse.

A mistake that I myself created all those years ago.

It was my own failsafe in case anything had happened but it had backfired on me, thus helping aid nature in creating me into a vampire.

I went from being nature's servant to an abomination of nature.

I was once a witch and in fear of my own death, I cast a spell that would make me survive but in order to continue living, I had to create the Petrova curse.

It skipped Katherine because she chose the escape route of being a vampire but beforehand she also gave birth to a child before the trigger could be activated.

It was inevitable.

History would repeat itself.

But if I didn't warn Elena of the repercussions then I wouldn't be able to break it except there was also another downfall, an original would have to die and we were getting less and less of those the more time went on.

Yet I knew that Elena would rather die than become a vampire.

This was getting a lot harder than I ever had initially anticipated.

What the hell was I going to do?

I didn't have the slightest clue.

* * *

><p>After sending off Stefan and Rebekah on their merry little way back to the boarding house, Niklaus and I were left alone was again.<p>

The stakes were a lot higher now and I was fighting against all the temptation to just rip all his clothes off.

I sighed softly.

His attention snapped to me straight away.

"Now what are we going to do with you?" He asked me, his tone tended to seem gentler when it was directed at me.

I looked up at him; a small plan formulating itself in my brain.

"Well, that's simple, my lord." I said teasingly

He raised his eyebrows at me, nodding for me to continue.

"We're going shopping." I finished

He let out a half hearted chuckle.

"Why of course, my lady." He replied mischievously as he held out his hand

I placed my hand in his and we disappeared in the darkness of the night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So who do you think Siobhan is? What's going to happen next? I've decided that I'm going to keep this a T rating and all the side shots I suppose you can call them, such as the sacrifice scene, sex scenes, the descriptive and gory stuff will all be separate as well as more detailed shots of the flashbacks that will be used in this story as well (will notify when I post them) and rated M so keep an eye out. I have to hold off on posting the sacrifice scene as it contains vital info in regards to this story that will be explained later on in this one and I don't want to ruin it. (I have written roughly half of it so far – very exciting) I want to kind of keep it all related but like a series sort of thing if that makes sense. Let me know what you think! I hope you like it :) Thanks x<strong>


	5. Chapter Four

**AN: Thanks so much for all your feedback so far... So now we enter another flashback, I kind of like them in this particular sequence form and now we finally get to find out who Siobhan is, hooray... Many questions will start to answer themselves. And we get to see Charlotte drag Klaus shopping, hmmm. This is going to be fun. **

**Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year.**

**Don't forget to review!**

**Enjoy **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Third Person POV (FLASHBACK – Roughly a few weeks ago, when Stefan and Klaus were in Chicago)<strong>_

"She waited for you, you know. Poor child believed you love her."

For a moment he was speechless, what on Earth was he going to say in reply to that?

How did Gloria of all people know that he once had a love interest?

Was she talking about Charlotte or perhaps someone else?

He had to think of something; a realistic enough back story but Charlotte was long dead now so what did it matter anyway.

There was no one else that even began to compare to her.

So the question still remained, just who was Gloria referring to?

Every girl that he had even bothered toying with, besides the Doppelgangers, they were all dead.

He had made sure of that.

There was only one woman that he would ever consider to be his equal.

He owed her that much in doing his actions justice.

"Don't bother lying to me, Klaus. I know the truth." She said before he could even open his mouth

Well at least one of them did because Klaus had no clue but he wasn't going to admit that to her.

"I don't know who you're talking about." He finally answered her, the most convenient way to find out information, play the naive card.

It always worked when Charlotte did it to evade her father.

There wasn't a day that she made her way into his thoughts.

"That's a lie and we both know it." She said as she had a sip of water from behind the bar

"The one girl I ever loved is six feet under so do you care to explain who the hell you are talking about?" he snapped at her

"You're telling me that you don't remember?" she asked, this was news to her ears

"Remember who?" Klaus demanded, his eyes flashed dangerously, his patience thinning

"Siobhan." Gloria said slowly

"And who the hell is that?" Klaus shrugged his shoulders, the name sounded vaguely familiar but it was like an old memory that he could try and grasp but it slipped straight through his fingers.

He tried to remember but nothing happened, it just came up blank.

"Your daughter." Gloria answered carefully, knowing that she was treading very deep uncharted waters

"I don't have a daughter." He laughed

"Yes you do." claimed Gloria

Klaus' eyes lit up in realisation as he met Gloria's questioning look.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Charlotte's POV – Present Time<strong>_

We had not gotten far at all; instead we ended up at the very place that I had died as a human, the very place where this whole nightmare had begun.

I don't know how exactly we got here but we did.

I tried fighting down the tears that had threatened to fall; emotions from every direction flew at me and hit me like a tonne of bricks, crumbling me from the inside.

"….Charlotte?" I could barely hear him; I was too carried away in my own thoughts, as I relived my death over again

He wasn't standing close to me at all, in a way I was kind of thankful.

I was already behind schedule.

Despite my age, I was still quite prone to several humiliating moments.

The last thing I needed was for this to be one of them.

"I guess death was never our forte, Niklaus." I murmured

We were not born like this; we were not born killers, but we were made like this due to a decision that would ensure survival of the fittest.

No one bothered to consider the repercussions except Ayana but she was long gone now.

It was too late for all of us.

Even for the one person that I considered my sister, Rebekah had clearly changed.

But I couldn't completely blame her after all, just take a look at her brother, if anything, she turned out quite well.

Getting her to turn her humanity back on wouldn't be as difficult as Niklaus.

As a woman I could relate to her so much more easily, Niklaus was a diverse story in so many ways that it was starting to do my head in.

"NO! I didn't want this life for you!" Niklaus bellowed in a fury.

He always was so temperamental.

I had constantly from the moment I met him, loved that certain quality about him, it made him the most exciting thing in our village.

It vaguely reminded me of when I was pregnant with Siobhan.

He didn't know of course, he thought I was with distant cousins of mine on a family visit, which in a way I suppose I was as I was with people that I could trust with my secret.

God forbid, if Niklaus knew I had had his child without his knowledge.

I couldn't even begin to fathom what he would have been like if he'd known.

That was a day that I did not want to face, his normal temper I could handle.

I could already see it though; he would be more than furious.

But things were a lot different as to what I had initially planned; my original intentions were on their merry little way out the window.

So for a moment I decided to throw all my precautions that had taken a good thousand years to build up, all out the window.

"What does it matter now? I'm here. We can be together again." I said as some of those prickling tears escaped through my eyes, he had no idea how much this hurt.

Niklaus was silent; a rare occurrence indeed.

In an instant he was by my side and he took me in his arms.

Pressing his lips against my left temple, my eyes fluttered shut.

In this moment, for the outside world, things may have seemed so perfect but if you had a closer look they may have realised that they were dreadfully wrong.

It was his next words that made my dead heart beat erratically.

"It doesn't. I love you, Charlotte."

I wasn't sure if whether or not it was a lie.

But to be honest, I really didn't care, this was the most normal I'd felt in a long time.

And it made me feel immensely guilty for what the future would bring.

_I'm sorry Nik._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Third Person POV – Present Time<strong>_

A twenty one year old woman strolled down the sidewalk pavement of Chicago city, wearing red strappy stiletto heels, black skinny jeans, a black satin trench coat covered her, oversized sunglasses on her face to hide her identity and she held her black Prada handbag close to her side as it was lopped over her right shoulder.

Her pale complexion looked as if it was glowing in the coolness of the morn.

She had her long curly golden brown hair with flecks of white blonde and chocolate brown streaks up in a pony tail, with a few strands loose to frame her face; her fringe was pinned back with the particular hair do.

She suddenly stopped in the street as she came face to face with a familiar place...

Gloria's Bar.

She made her way to cross the street as very traffic would be crossing this early in the morning, even in the city.

It was four in the morning.

But her eyesight was still immaculate.

She surveyed her surroundings, there were a few drunken idiots scattered around but none of them were a current threat to her.

And anyway, she could take all of them down within a matter of seconds; she'd like to see them all try.

They'd all end up dead, all of them would.

She made her way to her location, being cautious that no one was following her.

Satisfied, she made her way across the street and slipped inside the building, not pausing as she did so, despite her own surprise that the doors were open which was quite the curious thing.

As soon as she was inside, she locked the doors behind her as a new voice greeted her.

"About time you showed up."

The woman walked inside and behind the bar was Gloria herself.

"Well, I'm very flattered to know that you missed me." the woman said as she removed the sunglasses, revealing her sapphire blue eyes.

"It was a dangerous move if I do say so myself, Siobhan." said Gloria, "You can cut the bullshit now."

Siobhan smiled as she undid her trench coat, the air in the bar was getting slightly stuffy for her liking, she then straightened out her red blouse that matched her beloved shoes, and she also wore a red pair of earrings.

"Hardly," said Siobhan in response, "I like to think of it at setting my own plan in motion."

"You're mother told you the plan, you know as well as I do that she won't be happy to get wind of this." Gloria reminded Siobhan, it was a frightening thought to think of the combination of her parents.

Gloria had gotten to know the first Doppelganger, Katherine and if that was supposed to be a diluted copy of Charlotte, then there was going to be a lot of uproar in the future.

Not to mention the fact that Gloria now had her own agenda in revenge, she wanted to see a stake driven through Katherine's heart for her failed attempt at killing Gloria.

If only they knew that she was alive.

"My mother doesn't know what she's doing, I know her well enough to know that she is going to get off task. Think of this as the backup plan." Siobhan explained

Well, that's even worse, thought Gloria but she kept them to herself.

"Shiv, it doesn't matter, we need to wait for her signal. She's the one that created the curse; she's the only one that can break it."

"No Gloria, she's probably fallen in love with him all over again by now. She's going to be too sidetracked, we need to help her eliminate them, otherwise it may not happen, and my mother has always had a weak spot for my father, I doubt that that much has changed, regardless of the fact of how my I care for her, she does not know what is best for all of us."

"It's been about six hours since she's been in Mystic Falls." Gloria argued

"Exactly." said Siobhan, extracting a cell phone from her handbag, she dialled a number that Gloria didn't get a chance to memorise.

She held the phone to her ear as Gloria poured a shot of vodka, after all, her logic was, she'd rather be in a good frame of mind for when this all unravels, things had been on edge too much lately, and this was why she tried to never do business with Vampires, they were too troublesome the lot of them.

But desperate times called for desperate measures.

"It's time, hurry it up." said Siobhan before hanging up.

The two women exchanged a look as they nodded in mutual understanding, once the curse was done, they would never have to deal with something like this again and that was something both of them had separate views on.

"Let's do it." said Siobhan as Gloria nodded to a nearby table covered in books of which she guessed were all grimoire's and herbs that she could remember from years ago.

Candles filled the room, all of them flickering in the and casting an angelic glow.

They two made their way there and sat down facing each other.

"Once this is over, my bond to you..." Gloria began

"I know, your debt will be paid but only once this is over and when the curse is broken." said Siobhan as she waved, motioning for her to begin what Siobhan's mother had started.

"Agreed, I have your word?"

The only response the witch received was a nod but it was good enough for her, they had held deals on many occasions in the past before and not once had Siobhan ever broken her word.

"But for now, we need to kill the Doppelgangers... The both of them, Katherine and Elena." Siobhan continued, "So contact her, contact the original witch."

Gloria nodded and held out her hand, Siobhan reached into her handbag once more and dropped something into Gloria's hand.

The necklace that belonged to the original witch.

"Does your mother know that the one that they have was a fake?" asked Gloria

"No." Siobhan simply said, "She has no idea that there are two of them."

Siobhan was watching how Gloria continued her work even during conversation and admired it in a way.

She placed the necklace on top of a plate, as she threw various different herbs onto it, whilst chanting in an ancient native tongue that Siobhan recognised all too well.

Gloria held up a knife and Siobhan placed her palm over the plate, Gloria pressed the tip of the knife into the delicate looking flesh, slicing it open with ease, a large gash appeared on her hand, Siobhan made no appearances of discomfort, blood swelled at the wound at once.

Siobhan squeezed her hand to speed up the process and sure enough, a heap of blood rushed out.

Gloria's eyes rolled back as she gripped Siobhan's hands and Siobhan began murmuring a message that she knew would get through safely, despite the fact that she was Gloria as a vessel.

The small flames of the flickering candles ignited into flames like a flare.

Then the air shifted ever so slightly and Siobhan knew that it had worked.

Her cruel lips turned upwards into a small evil smile.

Her plan was set in motion.

And there was absolutely nothing that anyone could do that could stop her.

After all...

She was a woman on a mission.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Charlotte's POV – Present Time<strong>_

I swiftly put on a new pair of shoes that matched my outfit, Niklaus and I had agreed that we would shop on the way to his endeavours, finally making our way outside of Mystic Falls.

He planned to create more hybrid's, it didn't take a genius to figure that out. I expected that we would be doing a lot of travelling and the journey would be a lot faster, but for now I was enjoying the slow pace.

The night had slipped through my fingertips and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, on the plus side, I had gained Nik's trust and he would let his more humane side come out more often when he was around me and then breakfast had rolled around which was less than pleasant, his hunger had been for blood and since I refused to allow him to drink mine, he had been fuming.

It was roughly about ten in the morning, we had packed all of our things, Nik decided to leave Rebekah with Stefan without telling her before he left.

Kind of harsh really, it reminded me exactly of Siobhan, I'm sure that she would love to meet her family.

That though almost made me laugh out loud.

I actually had no idea where we were but the first string of boutique shops I had seen, I made him pull over the black SUV and we were currently in the fifth shop.

All I knew was that we were no longer in Mystic Falls and with Niklaus' driving; It wouldn't surprise me if we were halfway to Australia.

Well, to be honest, I was enjoying myself but my thoughts kept drifting, I knew that I had been off task but I couldn't help myself.

Niklaus stood stiffly, a metal bottle in his hand filled with blood and his eyes kept rolling every time I found something else appealing to wear.

The beauty of being a woman in this time; the fashion, back in my day it was less than beautiful in comparison.

That and the fact that I was making Nik pay for it all, I had plenty of clothes already which were packed in the boot of the car but I was making him pay for his sister's mistake of ruining my dress.

So all in all, he owed me and I was simply cashing in.

I found it to be very amusing, although I didn't think he felt the same way.

"Get on with it, Char, you're worse than Rebekah." He murmured but I still heard him

"Well then, blame her." I retorted back, it was not at all about the clothes or the revenge or getting what I wanted it was the point that had angered me.

Content with my current purchases and what I had already put at the counter, I tilted my head toward the direction I made my way too.

Niklaus met me there and handed over a blue credit card to me, I had compelled the entire store and the manager but Niklaus had other ideas apparently and he compelled the salesperson to give us all the clothing for free.

I shook my head, he truly was as daring as ever.

Although, he wouldn't listen to me, I knew that he hated to be controlled so I would have to ease into the role; he was the one that had to be in control...

Always.

It could have been because he was the eldest sibling so he had to have the responsibilities but for Niklaus he considered himself a King.

There was just no crown although now that he was creating his own species, they would probably all be sired to him, thus making Nik's ultimate dreams come true.

The clothes and accessory's were bagged and I carried them, Nik lingered nearby as we made our way to the car, it felt like the entire time we were in a silence and I did not like it one bit.

As soon as we arrived to the car, Nik unlocked it and got in the driver's seat whilst I put the bags in the back seat as got in the passenger side quickly.

The car's engine roared as we took off down the road.

He was in a rush to get somewhere.

It was most likely his first lot of werewolf victims, it made more sense and knowing Niklaus, he would not just go for one now that he had completed the transformation on one successfully.

He would probably go after an entire pack.

It was now that I decided that silence simply wasn't good enough, that and I needed to get some answers.

"I'm surprised that you've made it this far without any complaints." I said with a small smirk as I adjusted the air-conditioning vents so that they faced my direction.

I would have to gain his complete trust firstly.

I looked at him through my peripheral vision, trying not to be obvious.

Not that that ever worked.

He kept his eyes forward and on the road which made me want to slap him on the back of the head.

"Whatever you are up to, I am always one step ahead, sweetheart." He answered me eventually

I turned my head so he was my sole focus; he still made no move to act like we were having that conversation.

Two could play at that game.

"You've missed me, have you not?" I asked him completely off topic

"I have." He said gently without delay

"Good." I declared happily and I started grinning like an idiot

He chose that particular moment to glance over at me and before he could control it.

He smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Now the pot is beginning to stir, looks like things are only just getting started. Any idea's on what's going to happen next? Gloria is alive for this, I know she was killed by Katherine on the show but for I liked her character. <strong>

**The Side Shot Series will also be up within the next few days, including the breakfast scene mentioned (lots of lemony goodness) and some AU things that I've been contemplating as well as drafting. **

**Let me know what you think with a review! Thanks heaps xo**


	6. Chapter Five

**AN: After a sufficient amount of a break and scraping this chapter at least a good six times, I finally decided on which direction I plan to take this story after watching the most recent episodes... I can only hope that I get it right, so I do hope that you do enjoy this and please let me know what you thought with a review. This chapter stops off a little slow... Just a warning... Otherwise...**

**Alerts and Favs are amazing but a review is like... THE BEST THING EVER! LOL **

**So please help a girl out? :)**

**I am putting the side shot series on hold at the moment but it shouldn't be too far away. **

**Enjoy! xx**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Charlotte's POV – Current Time<strong>_

Looking out the window, all that you could hear was the throttle of the engine as we drove down windy roads.

The air-conditioning was on providing a nice comfortable temperature but the silence had settled in shortly after our last conversation.

He did not completely trust me, not that I could really blame him.

I wouldn't trust me either.

The silence was neither comfortable nor awkward but somewhere in-between.

We were both on edge, waiting for the other to speak up.

Neither of us did.

Which only added to my frustration.

I had been staring out the window for the past hour.

The scenery bored me as it was basically the same thing over and over again like a long never-ending strip.

I turned my head and examined Niklaus whom pretended to be busy with driving; I leaned further back in my chair and looked out of the windshield.

Crossing my arms, raising an eyebrow and inwardly groaning.

Well, this was boring.

"So..." I said slowly, trying to break the ice that had built up

It felt as if each time he let a part of himself show; he would build up a facade to hide his true emotions.

Maybe he just didn't know what to do with me.

Which was a good thing, the ball landed in my court with the element of surprise and it was a past-time I enjoyed thoroughly.

Keeping him on his toes; if only I hadn't lost my touch, this would be a hell of a lot easier.

He finally looked at me after my mind examination and he sounded puzzled himself.

"What are we going to do with you?" it almost sounded like a thought out loud but it was posed more as a question

Shrugging my shoulders, it was odd altogether that he was asking me.

He was meant to be the almighty villain.

"We?" I asked as I thought about his choice of words

"Yes, we. Because clearly you have a say in it too." He explained

I laughed loudly.

"Right." I said shortly afterwards, the cynicism in my tone biting through the word.

"You've never taken orders, Charlotte, so why start lying now?" he asked me though it was more like a statement

I had to admit, he had a valid point.

"To keep you on your toes." I replied with ease, casually flicking the switch, I had to when I was around him, if seeing him was in small doses, then that was something that I could work with.

This however, was different.

Not really caring what he thought anymore, it wasn't my concern, he was a tool.

That was all.

It was simple.

"Well in that case, love. You mind telling me why you lied to me in the first place?" he inquired

God, his voice drove me up the wall.

So husky... And it made me think with a different part of my anatomy altogether.

And he knew exactly what he was doing with me.

Bastard.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I defended as I let my humanity creep in for a moment.

I hated when he was in control of me in that type of regard and to the fact that he was overly smug about it.

"Yes you do." He smirked

I met his gaze with a confused look, praying that it wasn't about what I thought it was.

"Siobhan, our daughter. Care to explain, sweetheart?" he was baiting me

Shit.

Okay...

Not so simple.

No, I would not care to explain.

"Dead, Mikael killed her in the thirty's." I explained emotionlessly, flicking off my humanity switch for good now, it was the only thing I could do if I was going to endure prolonged amounts of time with him.

After all, the less he knew the better.

If only had stayed that way.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Charlotte's POV – Roughly two or so days later<strong>_

I couldn't believe it at all.

How dare he?

I mean, he actually left me here.

What the hell was going through his mind?

To say that I was furious was an understatement.

Us leaving Rebekah behind, I could understand that as she was being a nuisance, but me of all people?

I couldn't believe it.

I paced in the room that I was stuck in, he'd left me in Chicago of all places too.

We'd been on the road for two days and then he took off, claiming he didn't want me injured if the worst case scenario happened in his hybrid making.

As if that would happen, I couldn't help but think cynically.

I mean really, was he retarded?

His blood would heal me.

Duh.

It had only been a couple of hours since he'd abandoned me but still, it wasn't a nice feeling of being left behind.

I wonder if that was what Rebekah felt when we had left her.

Whoops.

I'd made a mental note to apologise later.

Sighing in frustration and throwing my hands up in the air.

Well, I was royally screwed and so was my plan.

Which was now non-existent; he was always one step ahead which was painful when you were trying to save him from himself and have an ulterior motive to foil his plans.

He had not said much after in regards to Siobhan, it appeared that he believed me when I told him that Mikael had indeed killed her.

I prayed to any God that was listening that he would not find out the truth, at least not for a long time.

Hopefully, by then, it would not matter.

My phone rang which was still safely inside my bag; at least he gave me all of my shopping items before leaving which was a plus.

Digging it out of my bag which consisted of me emptying the contents on the floor and throwing the bag across the room, picking up the phone and flipping it open.

"What?" I asked annoyed

"How's it going?" a female voice asked, unmistakably one that I recognised all too well

"Shiv, I'm gonna need some help on this one. You were right." I admitted, I wasn't going to be able to do this one on my own

"I know, I told you. Don't worry; I'm taking care of it." Siobhan reassured me

That didn't sound good in her tone.

"Where are you?" I asked as the wheels in my head were clicking together as I recognised a sound in the background of the audio.

"Spain." She told me.

Liar.

"Oh? How's the weather this time of year?" I asked, trying to sound genuinely interested

"Hot, as always." She lied with ease

I bet it was.

"Liar. Meet me at the bar." I called her out

"I'll be there in thirty." My daughter replied as I hung up the phone and regathered the contents of my bag, replacing it all back to its rightful place.

Shaking my head, she was exactly like her father.

And it terrified me.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Charlotte's POV – 45 minutes later<strong>_

Changing my clothes into something simple, black slacks with a matching jacket and a simple white long sleeved shirt that buttoned up at the front, I put my hair in a bun, leaving a few tendrils at the sides to frame my face.

Applying some more make-up to make my features pop more so to speak, slipping on a pair of black stiletto's, grabbing my bag and I headed out the door and onto the pavement sidewalk of Chicago.

Essentially, I had two options that I could do.

A – I could follow Nik and find out what he was really up to although he did tend to cover his tracks extremely well...

Or there was option B – of which I could finish what I had indeed started.

As I neared the part of the city I was after, I settled on the latter.

I owed it to everyone involved, including myself to continue with the original plan... Despite the consequences, I had been a witch; it was my duty to set the balance of nature right, once more.

I had to break my curse, sealing us all off, there would be no more doppelgangers.

Elena would soon die in retrospect or she could become a vampire to end her fate if she chose.

Katherine was already a vampire, so she wasn't a problem.

And then there was me.

I decided to just skip me; it was too long to fathom my involvement over the years.

Walking across the street again, careful of the busy life that Chicago had to offer, I walked straight into Gloria's bar.

Ignoring the Closed sign of course.

Strolling in, I saw Gloria and Siobhan talking already.

"I thought I told you not to start the party without me." I joked as I came closer

"Hey there." Siobhan greeted me

Gloria was still wary of me but had opened up to Shiv which was good enough for me.

"Charlotte." Gloria acknowledged

I sat down next to them, joining the circle.

"So what's the plan then?" I asked, clearly these two had something up their sleeve.

Siobhan always did, she was a lot like her father, there was always a backup plan B and C in case of emergencies.

"The original witch is going to wedge open the door to the spirit world, she is going to lure the Bennett witch to do a spell to interrupt the balance again so that she can draw enough energy to keep the door open for anyone as they please." Explained Gloria

"Giving a free pass to anyone with unfinished business." Finished Siobhan

Well this was news.

But not necessarily in a good way either.

"How?" I asked

"A manifestation spell." Answered Gloria

"No, it's way too risky." I decided, something like that would be a killer to rectify

That and I had made a few enemies, dead enemies, over the years.

I wouldn't like to face them again.

Anyone with unfinished was dangerous and a ghost was even worse, because they can't die.

Bastards.

"Well what do you expect us to do? This is the best idea we have." Siobhan stood up angrily

"I never said that it was a bad idea. Dangerous is more so the word I am after. To upset the balance like that, the damage that could be caused. There must be another way." I tried

Or worst case scenario, what if Esther herself came through the veil from the other side.

She'd kill us all and unleash Mikael if she could and she had the ability to draw power from both sides with her talisman.

No.

I couldn't let her do it.

The consequences were much too great.

I shook my head.

"It's too late. It has already been set in motion." Gloria intervened

"No." I whispered in horror

Siobhan was smirking.

Damn her.

"What do you plan on doing, Shiv?" I asked her regretfully

This was on the brink of something horrible like Mikael being awakened, I thought hypothetically.

As if that would happen though, I helped bury him with an old ally.

He was as dead as an original could get.

And not to mention the little fact that he was hidden away, protected with various spells.

"I'm just going with Plan B." She shrugged

"No, Siobhan." I raised my voice, being firm

Oh yes.

She was way too much like her father.

"You can't stop me." Said Siobhan as she walked out of the bar

I let her go.

I couldn't let her interfere, I needed to act quickly.

It was times like this that I knew what I was doing.

The question was...

What the hell happens now?

It was quite clear that Siobhan had her own agenda and despite me being her mother, there was nothing that I could do to stop her.

I was strong.

But I wasn't that strong.

After all, she was a hybrid.

One that took after her father way too well.

And me...

Well...

I was on my own with this one.

* * *

><p>Heading back to my apartment, I slammed the door behind me in frustration.<p>

Why couldn't everyone just fucking get along?

I mean seriously, was it that bloody hard?

No.

Angrily sighing once more, I packed my things and latest clothing from my shopping endeavours with Niklaus.

In a split second decision, I decided.

I was going back to Mystic Falls.

If Klaus was off on a tangent and Siobhan was planning revenge.

I had to move on to my next priority.

Elena.

* * *

><p>I readjusted the brown oversized sunglasses against my face as the sun shone brightly.<p>

It had been a long trip from Chicago with many pit stops.

A girl has to do what a girl has to do and if that meant trying to recruit as much help as possible than I surely will be there doing it with haste as time really was running out and my idea's were getting worse as time went on.

I was wearing a simple pair of black skinny jeans and a simple black tank top with light makeup on my face, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick and some light shadow as well as my signature and most favourite black stilettos on my feet.

Those things were my babies and I wouldn't be caught dead without them.

The people of Mystic Falls were all busy in the square, decorating it with lanterns all over the town; some big event was going on apparently and the preparations were underway with many volunteers running about.

It didn't really matter to me to be all that honest.

I had a lot to do but what can I say – I got easily distracted as I am sure many people could vouch for it.

I could sense that Elena was not there as I spotted Caroline, Bonnie and Matt, all talking about something or rather, nothing overly important other than ghosts and of course other supernatural beings which I kind of assumed was the new normal for these guys as their entire group had something supernaturally going on except Matt but he had witnessed enough that he may as well be a supernatural being.

I mean let's face it, Caroline is a vampire.

Bonnie is a witch.

Tyler is a hybrid.

Elena is a doppelganger of me.

Damon is a vampire.

Alaric is a vampire hunter.

Stefan is a vampire now under Klaus' control.

Matt is really the only 'normal' one.

I didn't really stick around to find out what they were talking about in depth as I went to the Grill to try and find Elena.

It took me two seconds before I found her.

I saw Elena sitting down at a table with a man and her brother Jeremy but Jeremy had just gotten up and I was going to use that as my cue to sit down and take his place but it appeared that I was not the only one that had that idea.

Stefan appeared out of nowhere and strutted on the scene.

"Hey guys." And he sat down upon saying his greeting

Of which looked like it was not received on good terms.

Elena and the other man looked beyond annoyed.

"Looks like you forgot to invite me to the family summit." He continued as he stared at Elena

She kept her eyes trained on her glass of water sitting in front of her.

The man sat back and I finally got to see his face.

Alaric.

He looked as if he was assessing the situation and interactions between the pair of them.

I suppose that that was what a teacher did nowadays and a history teacher too, did that make him more analytical somehow or just a really good researcher?

Hmmm... It was an interesting point.

Stefan picked up a leather bound journal and undid the string that held it all in place, opening it up and skimming his eyesight down the pages.

Elena said nothing, she almost spoke up but at the last second she decided not too and you could see the internal battle that she was fighting against herself.

You had to give the poor girl a break, I mean, really.

If you think about it, something happens or someone tries to kill her on a regular basis.

It's not really a comforting feeling.

"Oh wow," he said bored, "All those words... Forgot how much I used to care."

Elena glared at him; I could tell that she was finding it hard to tell herself that this was not Stefan and that this was the Ripper.

To find the differences was not hard but to tell them apart was, at least for a human that was.

"I didn't." She said, looking him dead in the eye, it was obvious that his lack of emotions had affected her, a hell of a lot more than she cared to let on.

She was hurt and it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

He returned her gaze for a brief moment and nodded, throwing the journal on the table uncaringly of its condition.

"You know, Elena, it's probably best to torture yourself with memories of the past." Stefan began, "It's best that we both just move on and accept things as they are."

Nik really did a number on him.

"You don't have to be here." Stated Alaric, clearly sticking up for Elena, it was kind of sweet really, the girl needed it although she acted as if she didn't but she needed someone to stick up for her.

She was only a girl and a teenager.

A dangerous combination.

Then to add the world of the supernatural...

It makes things...

Difficult, to say the very least.

"You know what, Alaric. You're right, I don't." said Stefan, pausing to clear his throat, "But Elena's here and I look after Elena."

Elena scoffed at this which made me smile; she shook her head and rolled her eyes which vaguely reminded me of myself.

Pretending to be strong when you are the complete opposite and you're close to breaking point.

"There's going to be people everywhere tonight, so there's going to be lots to eat." Stefan joked but by the way he said it, it was quite questionable as to whether or not he was serious or joking.

I chose that moment to intervene as Alaric and Elena looked at each other, contemplating whether or not to lock him up for the safety of himself and for the safety of others.

"Oh, for the love of God, do get over yourself, Stefan." I said loud enough for the entire table to hear as I approached them, a hand on my hip to look more intimidating than I felt already.

The smirk disappeared off of Stefan's face and it was replaced with a look of confusion and what could have easily been worry.

"Charlotte, what are you doing here?" he asked in shock, his eyes wide

The cocky attitude that he had picked up was now gone.

Yes, I had turned the tables and I was playing the game my way now and I didn't care who got in my way.

I would win.

I just had to be the better villain.

Elena looked surprised that I was back and poor Alaric looked completely and utterly confused.

I highly doubt that an explanation had been done.

"I think a better question would be; why the hell are you in my seat?" I retorted back at him sarcastically

He scrambled up to both Elena and Alaric's surprise and I sat down, I then crossed my legs and looked back at him.

"You can go now, Stefan." I dismissed him; perhaps he took orders from me since Klaus had appeared to claim me as his partner in crime.

He nodded and without another word he walked away from the Grill and he went down the street.

Alaric and Elena shared a look of discomfort.

"What do you want?" asked Elena

"Funnily enough," I answered, "I'm here to help you."

"Yeah right, you're in love with Klaus. How the hell can we trust you?" said Elena

Touché.

She did have a valid point.

It probably didn't help that I was mildly suppressing my own humanity.

If you want results, it's definitely the way to go.

"You can't trust me but we all want the same thing." I bargained

"You want Klaus dead too?" Alaric spoke up

I contemplated this motion.

"No." I replied, "I want him to re-find his humanity and I want this whole nightmare to be over."

"That's not gonna happen unless Klaus is dead." Said Elena as she raised an eyebrow, daring me to continue arguing with her silently

"Not everything has to do with death, Elena. I'll make you a deal. You help me and I'll help you, plus I'll throw in a little reward for you." I tried, if I could make it work, we'd both benefit greatly

"I'm listening." She agreed

"You prolong your plans to kill Klaus, help me out with a curse and in exchange, I'll keep your family and friends safe." I began, but Elena interrupted me before I could continue

"I don't think you get it, Klaus has a hold over my life, over Stefan's life." She said

"As for your reward, I will ensure that Niklaus releases Stefan from his compulsion and returns his humanity if of course Stefan wants to turn it back on." I finished

She seemed to consider this.

Totally forgetting Alaric's presence, I looked at him to gauge his reaction to my promising words.

It was true, we were both putting a lot on the line at the moment as the pair of us hardly knew each other despite being from the same family.

Blood was only so thick in the end of the game.

One word sealed the next move in this never-ending drama.

"Deal." She answered me.

I smiled at her, it was a genuine one.

"Good." I commented before getting up from my seat

"I'll go grab Jeremy." Said Elena as she got up from her own chair.

I paused and turned around to face my descendant.

"A word of advice, Elena, we have to work together otherwise neither of us will get what we want."

I walked away into the bustle of people surrounding this small town without giving her a change to comment on my words.

One thing ran through my mind at that moment.

And so it begins.

* * *

><p>Running a hurried hand through my hair, I took a side trip to my favourite cave underneath the old Lockwood property.<p>

It was one of my best memories with the Smith family, maybe that's because Mikael had been away hunting at the time.

One could only hope that one day he would never return.

Of course there was no such luck but it didn't stop me from wishing.

It really was a pity that he didn't die as a human; it would have made life a lot easier as well as the transition of becoming a vampire.

I ducked under a low ceiling to enter the heart of the cave.

No one had been down here in hundreds of years, granted the fact that no one probably knew about it but I loved stories and I, along with Niklaus and Rebekah came down to the caves to carve stories, of the village, of us and our families and I returned to them whilst I was in transition to write the story of my death and Esther's.

Ever since returning to Mystic Falls once more, it had brought up a lot of memories, even the ones that I thought that I had once buried; they were resurfacing themselves to the frontline.

I stepped forwards once more and I felt myself hit a barrier and I couldn't go on any further.

What?

Are you kidding me?

I groaned.

Who owned this and still had living descendants?

A childish giggle stopped my thoughts.

My entire body froze.

No.

He was dead.

It wasn't possible, I remember that day as clear as if it had happened five minutes ago. My hands were drenched in his blood and I stared into his cool grey eyes that had glazed over.

I held his corpse in my arms as I wept.

But I knew that voice anywhere, any time of day, any place in the world.

_Henrik. _

No.

I refused to believe it as the laugh subsided, it was in the distance, close but still far away.

It felt like a physical blow to my stomach.

Or perhaps it was all in my mind and I had imagined it.

I shook my head and exhaled slowly, I turned around.

"Wait!" said the voice and my stomach dropped to the floor, that was without a doubt exactly whom I thought it was.

I turned around once more and in front of me was someone whom I thought I would never see again for the rest of eternity.

"Henrik?" I asked as tears flooded to my lids as soon as the word escaped my lips and a sob erupted from me.

My right hand flew to my mouth.

He was standing directly in front of me.

"Hello, Miss Charlotte." He greeted with a smile, he had not changed in the slightest.

His pure innocence was something that he had always held dear but it was my fault that he was killed.

Niklaus and I had snuck out that night that the men turned to beasts and Henrik had followed us but it had been to late as we watched the wolf kill him.

Henrik's loud screams filled the air and there was nothing that Niklaus could have done to stop his death, I could have saved him but at that point in time, I was in such shock that I didn't know what to do and by the time I could get a coherent word out, it was already too late.

It made me flash back to the reality that I was in now.

He stepped forward and I flung my arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

He was real.

"How is this possible?" I asked breathlessly, tears rolled themselves down my cheeks

"I don't know." He answered unsure

I pulled away from him, bending down to reach his level.

Siobhan's plan must have been working and already put into motion.

"You were brought here for a reason, Henrik, what sort of unfinished business do you have with the living? I can help you." I offered, I owed him that much to start off with.

He shook his head slightly.

Something was off, something was... Not right.

"She'll get mad." He whispered, looking around himself for any onlookers

I could not see anyone else here with us; perhaps he was looking for ghosts.

That was it.

It was like a light bulb moment in my head I couldn't believe that it had taken me so long to figure it out.

The manifestation spell.

It offered a free pass to anyone on the other side safe passage between the veil of the dead and living world, which meant...

Esther.

She could be here and she had the ability to conceal herself to me.

Groaning and mentally slapping myself, I should have known.

This was merely a distraction.

I took a step away from him.

"Wait." He reached out to me and I couldn't help but feel entranced by him.

His hand brushed against mine, sending shivers through my body.

I stopped suddenly, it didn't matter whether or not that this was a distraction.

I _owed_ him.

Closing my eyes and fighting against my priorities and my guilty conscious.

My eyes flashed open as I looked Henrik dead in the eye.

"Who?" I mouthed not sure if Esther really was here or not.

"Her." Said Henrik as he pointed to me which signalled that she was behind me.

Great, I thought sarcastically.

Whipping around, there she was.

"Hello, Charlotte." She greeted me

"Esther." I said bowing my head; despite how much of a scornful woman that she was, I didn't need to piss her off any further than I already had.

"You and I have some unfinished business to attend to." She said as her arms crossed in front of her.

I didn't dare say a word.

"You can leave now, Henrik." She addressed her son and leave he did, without giving me a chance to say goodbye.

Bitch.

She uncrossed her arms and her hands clasped themselves together.

"Now," she began, raising a manicured eyebrow, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" her voice raised a notch

"I don't know what you're talking about." I threw back at her casually, shrugging my shoulders for dramatic effect.

Her expression did not falter in the slightest as the next thing I knew my head felt as if a thousand knives were piercing it.

My hands flew to my head as I dealt with the agony and my body fell to the ground.

Withering in pain.

It wasn't meant to be like this.

It felt as if hours had gone by but in reality it had only been a couple of minutes.

"Shall we try again?" she asked to no-one in particular as I stood back up, the agony gone for the moment.

Thank God.

It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

"You need to restore the balance between nature." She explained sternly

Like hell I would, that was no longer up to me anymore.

"And why would I do that?" I asked her

"Because it is your duty." She spat back at me

"No." I shot back at her, "That duty disappeared the moment you killed me."

It was out in the open.

All we did was stare at each other and no other words were said between the pair of us.

What else could we say?

We were both too headstrong, too stubborn.

I almost laughed at the irony, perhaps Niklaus was right.

Perhaps time indeed make us more alike than I thought.

I had no idea what was running through Esther's mind, but I did know this.

It wasn't good.

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><p><strong>AN: And there we have it. A much awaited update... Am working on the next one... Henrik will play a part in what is to come as well - if you are wondering...<br>**

**OMG – I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT ELIJAH IS BACK! :O Has anyone seen the next episode? **

**Review? x**


	7. Chapter Six

**AN: I know... It's been forever... Almost quite literary in that sense... Firstly, I was going to leave this chapter until I had more than just Charlotte but in saying that, I thought that you all should have a long deserved update! By no means at all am I going to abandon this or any other story of mine. Secondly, for those of you that have stuck with me since the beginning of this, I would just like to say a massive thank-you! Seriously, you guys rock! :-) I will attempt to update a little more regularly... Until next time - Enjoy! x**

**Just a little note... Oh yeah! Duh! This is all in Charlotte's point of view by the way. **

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><p>"What do you want from me?" I asked, growing tired of the conversation already; I didn't need to be dragged into Esther's mess again.<p>

God Forbid.

I don't think I'd ever forgive myself.

Nor I think would anybody else.

Once was more than enough to completely screw up, besides, I already had major messes that needed clean ups.

"You heard me." She said, pulling me away from my thoughts.

I shrugged, trying not to show my emotions but they were seeping through the cracks, not that I overly cared, I flicked the switch to feel indifferent, this was the last thing that I needed.

Emotions were the last thing I needed now.

"Why the hell do you think I'll help you?" I asked bitterly, it was true; I had no intentions of helping her, not now, not ever.

"You did a thousand years ago, things haven't changed that much, Charlotte." She tried, bringing up long forgotten memories of a past that I hoped would not come up again.

And what a mistake that had been, I wasn't stupid enough to be fooled by her trickery once more.

"No, I protect my family." I finished, she was only here because of the manifestation spell, no other reason, and once that gets reversed, she'll be gone.

No worries.

I simply need to find the Bennett witch and try to get her to help me.

Okay, not so simple but at least Elena might be able to talk some sense into her now that we're all working towards the same goal.

"In case you forget your place, I am your family, you are my daughter-in-law and my sister whether you like it or not, you will help me." Her strong voice thundered through the cavern

Oh, bite me.

"I haven't forgotten my place, but clearly you've forgotten yours. I am not Niklaus' wife." I defended a little too quickly, how dare she bring that up? It had all been a lie, a part of the ploy that Esther had planned herself, I was just merely stupid enough to believe the pitiful lies that Esther told me, without question.

"But you have always yearned to be, you gallivanted like love sick fools." She commented.

That was below the belt.

But instead of snapping her neck which my entire body was screaming to do, I stood still, standing my ground.

Do not think about it, I kept repeating in my head.

Don't let her use you again, don't fall for it.

"Then why kill me if you were going to end up needing I in the future? That was what you wanted wasn't it? To have me completely out of the picture so that you could have full control of Nik? I hate to break it to you but that plan failed and backfired on you, big time." I ranted, trying to divert her attention, I was starting to hate all of these flashbacks that I was getting, the past was the past, and a thousand years was a time so long ago, it was best to be left unsaid.

"Perhaps, I guess we'll never know." She said cryptically, she was testing my patience,

"I don't care why you're here, but you can leave me out of it." I growled; fed up with the games she was attempting to play on my head.

How much could one person take in such a small vicinity of time? I mean, really, come on.

"You owe-" she began in that strong demanding tone that I learned to despise over the years

"I owe you nothing." I cut her off, knowing that it would piss her off.

Good, I added as an after-thought.

After all, she did kill me.

"Do not interrupt me." She said causing me to roll my eyes.

What was I? Five.

No.

"Apologies," I said sarcastically, she was losing patience, good, I silently thought, she was always an insufferable bitch, I think I finally discovered the source of Niklaus' mood swings, "In case you forgot, I'm no longer a witch, you kind of killed me and turned me into a vampire after you harvested my blood."

"You'll come soon enough, dear." She said as she disappeared into thin air

What the hell?

Sighing quietly to myself, I shrugged flicking the switch back to my humanity, at least on the positive side of things, as soon as the spell was reserved, I'd be able to kick her ass back to the dead, where she belonged.

No longer feeling in the mood to be here anymore, I left the caves and went back into the city circle of Mystic Falls, perhaps the other's had made some progress.

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><p>This was a mess, to say the least.<p>

Nothing had gone to plan, at all.

Despite the tiny detailed fact that I didn't really have a plan to begin with.

Things had changed so dramatically, Siobhan was working against me, no matter how much she tried to deny it and it was quite clear that Gloria was helping her for what reasons, they are unclear.

I was her mother, not delusional.

So on to plan B, or was it was it along the lines of G now?

I'd lost count.

At least I had some leverage with Elena, my doppelganger, at least which was a kind of start to an alliance of some sort.

Why was it that something always went wrong when I was in this town?

Sighing in frustration, I would have to settle for second best.

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><p><strong>AN: As always, I love to hear your thoughts! I know that this chapter was a little boring, purely just in the essence that it was just kind of about Charlotte's emotions and nothing really else too epic is happening at the moment, the next chapter on the other hand, that is upcoming, will be a little jam packed. Despite how cliche this is about to sound... Stay tuned. Thanks everyone x<strong>


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